Zombieopeia Story
by charliehutch03
Summary: An AU story about the Zombieopeia duo. From Ben's perspective. Please read. Remember: since this is an AU, Cassie can like Ben. It is completely possible.
1. Chapter 1

**I pull her up from the crevice below.** I look into her eyes. God, I never really got to know her, but looking into her eyes, I knew everything. I mean, I guess I _had_ liked her for quite some time now, just never gave it so much thought.

Here and now. The Others' spaceship gleaming in the sunset. I wanted to kiss Cassie Sullivan. She looked at me defiantly, a stare that I had come to love.

"Thanks." She said, rather flatly.

"Yeah, uh, anytime," I tried my trademark grin out. Don't know if it worked. She half-smiled back.

"Let's hope I won't ever need it again." That made a lot of sense. But with the Others here, saving someone's life is like saying, _Hey, can you pass the ketchup?_ Like that small of a favor. So, I guess the Others were succeeding, so far, in destroying our humanity. Whatever it is that actually does make us human.

I knew, somehow, deep down, I continued to live in part for Cassie. The other for Nugget. And Ringer. And everyone else I had come to love. I guess Cassie felt just as confused as I am.

"It was hard, wasn't it?" I stopped in my tracks. What was she talking about?

"Um, what?"

"Watching your sister get taken right from you." It was like she knew every one of my thoughts. If she did, it wouldn't be good. Because I am a teenage guy. I have some things I'd rather keep in my mind.

See? Those are the kind of things I miss. Random, silly, stupid thoughts. Worrying about tiny things. Not having to worry about humanity's entire existence. Everything going back to the way it was would be like a dream come true. Even Ms. Patrick, the cruel and unfair chemistry teacher.

Everything back except one thing. I could walk down the high school hallway with Cassie at my side.

"I know, I know this is kind of random, but I can't stop thinking about everything before the Others came. I'm not even afraid to admit I had the biggest crush on you."

I shuddered a little inside. _Had._ I guess that means that with everything going on, she had kind of stopped caring. That sucks. But, I mean, I understand. Evan was amazing. And I didn't even try to get to know the real Cassie, or her at all.

"Isn't it ironic," I whispered to myself. Unfortunately, she heard me.

"What is?" She seemed truly curious.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing. Just thinking aloud."

She snickered. "You? Thinking?" I could tell she was joking.

"Hey, I'll have you know, I was a really good chemistry student."

"Well of course you were. Like, every girl in the school liked you." I laughed, playfully shoved her as we walked along. It felt good to tease like that. It seemed… normal. If there even was a such thing.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She seemed pretty calm about it.

"What… did you define as normal? Or is there even a normal?"

She thought about that for a long moment. It seemed like it had been ages, when she finally replied: "Well, Mr. Zombie…"

" _Sergeant_ Zombie." I cut her off. She giggled.

"Okay, _Sergeant_ Zombie, honestly? There is no normal. Just expectations of normal." That made total sense.

"Wow. You should be like, a philosopher, or something. That's deep." Another feeble attempt to be funny. Or flirt. Even _I_ couldn't tell what I was doing anymore. I was that lost. She laughed, a hearty, from-the-heart-at-least-I-really-hope-so-laugh. It seemed like she was about to give some sort of witty comeback when an explosion tore apart the concrete right in front of us. I took her hand. "RUN!" I scream, turning in the other direction.

"What are you doing? Let go of my hand!" I wasn't listening. I was too focused on getting the hell outta there. She tried wiggling her hand a little, but soon gave up after another explosion sent a piece of pavement hurtling toward us.

We were completely blind. We didn't know who our attacker was; most likely an Other if they have explosive devices. We didn't know where he or she was; we knew nothing. This was totally against all my training from Wright-Patterson, but then again, those were Others teaching us. So, I just sprinted, Cassie alongside me. Ran as fast as we could in the direction we _hoped_ was farther away from the bombs.

We reached an intersection that led onto a highway. Cassie started to run the other way, but I stopped her. "This way!" She saw the highway and nodded. Even as someone who wasn't a skilled soldier, she knew we would be able to find good cover with all the car wreckages there. We ran up the bridge that led up to the highway, only slowing down a little as everything quieted, but I knew, from recent experiences, that "quiet" didn't necessarily mean safe or that the danger was done.

We slowed to a quick trot once we reached the top of the highway. We didn't really walk for long when Cassie pointed to a nearby vehicle. "Let's hide out in there." I was, a small compact car. Cassie and I were smushed together in the backseat. Every guy's dream. No sarcasm there.

We talked for a little while. It seemed kind of peaceful in that car, just sitting and talking. Peace was something I hadn't been able to feel in a long time. Just being there, all of it, triggered some old instincts. I leaned over and I kissed Cassiopeia Sullivan. She seemed shocked at first, but then she gave in, wrapping her hands around my back.


	2. Chapter 2

The kiss seemed to last for an eternity. It's not like I care. In fact, I was over the moon with joy that it lasted so long. But, then again, alien invasion or not, doesn't every guy? Cassie slowly pulled away, smiling but had a tear running down her cheek.

"Cassie? What's wrong?" I asked, trying to be polite and/or helpful.  
"It's just… Evan… he… he's dead, and it's my fault." Another few tears rolled down her cheek. I was slightly worried. I wanted to help, but it was sunset, and we needed to get a move on. It wouldn't be long before our attackers either came after us or blew the entire highway to smithereens.

"Hey, Cassie. It wasn't even close to your fault. Evan chose to save you, and you did everything you could to save him." It had been a month since the explosion of Wright-Patterson, and there were still some sour feelings. I had lost Ringer too. But not in the way I expected.

Ringer was very much alive, mind you. But she had betrayed me, convinced the rest of the squad to turn against me, and took off with Nugget. Or Sam.

"Thanks, Ben. I'm sorry about Ringer. She seemed… nice…" I laughed. Cassie was just trying to be polite, but, come on, Ringer? POLITE? NICE!? Cassie laughed too. I wiped the tears from her face, and a strand of hair that had fallen into her sparkling, beautiful eyes.

"Come on, we need to get a move on. Night is coming." Cassie began to open the door.

"Funny, I was just about to say that," I said, rather quietly. Opening the door wide, Cassie immediately pulled out her Luger and checked her surroundings. For someone who wasn't a soldier, she was pretty smart. If she hadn't done that, there was a small chance her head would have been blown off her shoulders.

"We're clear, just keep it down," she whispered. I grabbed my gun that was leaning against the back of the car seat, silently and cautiously opened the car door, and stepped out, doing a sweep with my rifle. Cassie was standing in front of the car, waiting for me.

"Which way?" Asking her, because I didn't want to choose. She luckily had an answer.

"Let's go that way," nodding off to the stretch of woods at the end of the highway. "We definitely shouldn't go back the way we came. That made sense. I agreed and we started walking. I was vaguely reminded of two hours ago when bombs were thrown all around us. I quickened my pace. So did Cassie. I guess she was worried too.

It seemed so normal now. The new routine, I called it. My old one was something along the lines of: wake up. Shower. Eat. Brush teeth very well for trademark smile. Go to school. New routine: wake up(if you sleep at all). Try not to die. Sleep if you can. Lots of anticipation, shooting, and walking to God knows where. I can honestly say I kinda missed the old one. Much preferred it to the new one at the very least.

I remembered a question coming from Cassie what seemed like ages ago. Time to answer. "Hey, uh, Cassie?" Started weird. Should've just come right out and said it.

"Yeah?" She asked, a little carelessly.

"You asked me earlier if it was hard watching my sister right from me. And yes. Extremely. And Because of that moment, I pushed myself to become stronger in spirit so I can save her next time." _By her, I mean you, Cassie. If you ever need it._

She was silent for a moment. Then, "I guess I kind of expected the answer. Honestly, I was really paying attention to _how_ you said it." She was very serious, I could tell, but there she was being all deep and smarty again, and I didn't know how to interpret or even read that language. Time for a stupid moment. "Say, Cass, if it's alright if I call you that, why don't you and I go on a date sometime?" She smiled.

"I'd love that, Zom, if it's alright if I call you that." She slipped her hand into mine, and together, we walked into the forest, not knowing what laid beyond.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up, my head pounding unnecessarily. As my vision slowly cleared, I saw Cassie sitting across from me, munching on a bag of trail mix.

"Hey!" She said, oddly cheerful. It may have just been my head, but I was confused.

"What's up with you?" I asked, a groggy tone in my voice.

She didn't answer. Instead, she took out another small bag of trail mix and extended it out to me.

"Breakfast?"

"Yes please. I'm starving." She handed me the bag swiftly, then went back into her bag and took out the painkillers.

"Here. Take these, too. I'll give you some water to swallow it down."

"Thanks. Where exactly are we?" She looked at me, slightly puzzled. I gave her a funny look in return as I reached into my bag of trail mix, grabbed a handful, and popped it into my mouth. She laughed. Way to make me more confused, Girl Who Apparently Likes Me But Laughs At My Every Move.

Still laughing, Cassie told me how we were about 10 miles away from the freeway where we were attacked, in a rather large pocket of woods she found. Cassie's smile almost immediately fell, right then.

"What's wrong?" I said, genuinely confused, and not even trying to hide it. Cassie sighed, shuffling her feet in the patch of dirt below the rock she was sitting on.

"Ben, please tell me you won't be mad, and it's not like I'm regretting it or anything, but there's a small part of me that feels like that kiss was wrong. I lost Evan. I'm still trying to get over that." A small tear ran down her cheek. I was a bit shocked, this seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Cassie, why would I be mad? I may be a teenager, but I completely understand. You lost Evan, and Nugget, sorry Sam…" she had given me a look. She obviously didn't like that.

"But, Cassie, being the sixteen-year-old I am, can I ask you a weird question?"

She looked almost suspicious, but then said "sure, why not."

"Can I still take you on that date?"

And there was that smile, right back on her face. Yeah, if we ever find time; that reminds me, we better get a move on, we've stayed in one place for too long."

"I agree. Let's get outta here." With that, we each grabbed our packs, respectively, and set off, keeping to the edge of the woods in case we needed a quick concealed escape.

…

"Alright, so I'm thinking we stop at the next shop we find, I need some new clothes, if we're lucky, but definitely food and water."

"Yeah, that's probably best. Those painkillers didn't really do the trick. I think I need something stronger." Just then, I could hear a small whisper, nagging at me, coming from everywhere.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Cassie questioned, straining her ears. "I don't hear anything. It's probably just the killer headache."

The voice got louder, building up, until it was almost a scream. My head felt like it was splitting apart; I resisted the urge to scream, I knew it would get us both caught and killed.

Then it got really weird, really fast. My headache stopped abruptly, and my mind seemed to go into a dreamlike stance. The last thing I remember was pulling out my knife, turning towards a confused and terrified Cassie.


End file.
